The rest is just noise

Louis sat at home and changed the 1984 draft and the fortunes of multiple teams.

Both of the Knicks' transactions were his suggestions.

They did it, and it was a vote of approval. The Knicks used actions to prove how hungry they were for talents.

Jordan went to the Trail Blazers, Barkley went to the Bulls, Bowie went to the 76ers, and Stockton went to the Knicks.

What kind of butterfly effect these drafts will produce is something Louis cannot predict.

After he saw that Stockton was selected by the Mavericks, he stopped watching. He knew that the Mavericks' draft rights would be traded to the Knicks, and he also knew that his plans behind the scenes had come true.

Now, what he has to do is prepare a speech for the championship celebration, and then declare his free agency in a high-profile manner to see if there is a team more suitable than the Knicks. If not, New York will be his next stop.

On June 22, the Celtics held a championship celebration in the downtown square of Boston.

Also present at the celebration was Jim Peterson, the rookie they drafted this year.

They listened to Louis' last suggestion and recruited a reliable substitute for the team's interior.

Seeing the Celtics take Peterson, Louis was a little frightened. Getting Peterson meant that the Celtics had no dead spots in the lineup.

Sampson, Laimbeer, Maxwell, Bird, Peterson, five people are enough. Well, if Bird is not counted as an inside man, there are only four people, which is still a bit thin.

But in Louis' system, Bird has to play the fourth position for 10-15 minutes in every game. Sometimes, he will make adjustments and let Bird play center.

The effect was surprisingly good, so even if Louis is gone, his successors will not be foolish enough to overthrow his system and rebuild it.

Does anyone really think they can build a better system than 87 wins and 12 losses? No.

The Celtics' current offensive and defensive system is the result of six years of hard work since Louis joined the industry in 1978.

After many trials and errors and adjustments, the best solution was integrated.

The only flaw at present is that there is no offensive system that Sampson can promote alone when Bird and Thomas go to rest.

This is the successor's business. If he is allowed to do everything, why should he leave?

On that day, Louis took the stage to give a speech, which was completely unscripted.

"In the summer of 1978, I was just a college student who knew nothing. I came to Boston with a dream and longed to play professional basketball. Then, I saw radicals and conservatives fighting in the streets. It was so lively."

The first paragraph of his speech made everyone laugh.

"I want to thank K.C. He gave me 10 minutes. Those crucial 10 minutes changed my destiny." Of course, it also changed the destiny of the Celtics.

If we extend it a little further, what changes in those 10 minutes is the fate of the entire alliance.

"I want to thank K.C. I couldn't be here without him; I want to thank Reid, there will never be a second general manager who is willing to let a 23-year-old kid become an NBA head coach; I want to thank Bill Fitch (boo)

), he taught me the most important lesson as a head coach, not to be too conceited; I want to thank my players for humbly accepting my coaching and putting up with my bad habits for this journey to this point.

I appreciate everyone."

Louis finally said: "These six years have been the best six years of my life, and I will never forget them."

Only Louis made his championship celebration speech look like a farewell speech.

Older people all heard another meaning of his words.

After the championship celebration, Louis signed a contract with a professional agent.

His name is Marcel Thielen, and he is a relatively young professional manager whose main business is in the NFL. Louis is his first NBA coach.

On the same day that Louis announced that he signed an agent, he also announced that he would jump out of his existing contract and become a free agent to accept market prices.

In an instant, all teams with vacancies for head coaching positions submitted offers.

Teams such as the Pacers, Clippers, Bullets, Cavaliers, etc. want to have formal negotiations with Louis.

The top brass of the Celtics had known this would happen, and several members of the core team knew that Louis would leave, but externally, their tone was that they would do whatever it took to keep Little Lu.

The Celtics' publicist told a reporter from the Boston Globe: "Lou is a member of our family, he is an outstanding coach, and we will keep him in Boston no matter what the considerations are.

.”

Then, Louis' agent Thielen received an offer from Celtic.

5 years $1.8 million

This is an offer that is neither too high nor too low. It is not as wealthy as the Knicks, nor as powerful as the Clippers (head coach + general manager).

Afterwards, Louis accepted an exclusive interview with the Boston Herald and stated that he would carefully consider his future.

He did not give a definite answer as to whether he would stay in Boston.

This makes many people anxious.

On June 27, Bird and Laimbeer came uninvited.

"Rare visitor!" Louis said unexpectedly.

He invited people in and asked his mother to cook a good meal.

"These two are both big shots worth seven figures, so we can't neglect them," Louis said.

Ranbir said sheepishly: "Don't bother me. I'll just eat whatever I want. I'm not picky about food."

Except for saying hello when he came in, Bird was silent at other times.

After Li Xuanbing walked away, Louis sat down and got wine for them and opened a bottle of Coke himself.

"Are you really going to leave?" Bird asked.

"Are you so direct? Instead of just saying something else, just point out the topic and what will we talk about later?"

It's not that Louis didn't expect Bird to go straight to the point, he just didn't expect Bird to tell the truth before Ranbir when he knew how to ask Ranbir, a thousand-year-old monster, to come with him.

Then why did you call Ranbir here? To start a fight in my kitchen?

"What do you want to talk about?" Bird asked bluntly.

Louis wanted to pick his feet after hearing this. He looked at Ranbir: "Can you find some tape to seal this man's mouth? I can't talk to him when he talks like this."

Ranbir laughed, took a sip of wine, and said, "Coach, we didn't disappoint you, right?"

Louis asked him back: "Do you think anyone will be disappointed with an 87-12 team?"

"Then you don't enjoy being with us?" Ranbir asked again.

"Isn't it pleasant? How could it be? Although most of you people are mentally ill, I just like the pleasure of crushing my IQ. Being with you is definitely a pleasure." Louis said jokingly.

Ranbir didn't understand.

"Since we didn't disappoint you and you had a great time in Boston, why do you want to leave?"

In fact, Louis didn't want to talk to them about this matter, which was difficult for them to understand.

In a sense, there is no difference between Louis and Isiah Thomas.

They are eager to make great achievements and have their names read out in bold and capital letters to praise them.

But in the Celtics, Thomas is dominated by Bird, and even Sampson is far more popular than him. Louis, like his predecessors, is shrouded in the shadow of the Cardinal.

He was convinced that he could succeed elsewhere, so he had to leave.

How should I tell them about this?

They won't understand.

"I haven't signed with another team yet, why do you think I will leave?" Louis asked.

Bird snorted: "If you don't want to leave, why did you declare yourself a free man after the championship celebration?"

"Because I want to pursue higher remuneration, Larry, this is also a contract year for you, don't you want to make more money?" Louis asked.

Bird couldn't answer.

"So, you will renew your contract with the team?" Laimbeer then asked.

"I can't guarantee this."

"Then don't you still want to leave?"

Louis said realistically: "Whether I leave or not will be determined by the market, and the highest bidder will get it. If Reid only gives me a contract of 1.5 million, but other teams offer me a contract of 3 million, do I want to stay?"

"

Ranbir said awkwardly: "It makes sense for you to think so."

"Can money mean everything?" Seeing that Laimbeer couldn't make sense, Bird decided to do it himself.

He definitely overestimated himself.

A country bumpkin, who is Louis? He has lived two lifetimes and experienced hundreds of battles, what kind of scenes have he not seen?

Louis scoffed: "Can't you?"

"Money can't buy happiness." Bird wanted to say that money can't buy players like them, but that was a bit too pretentious, so he changed his statement.

Louis laughed out loud.

"If you think money can't buy happiness, I can only say that you are using the wrong method." Louis said sharply, "You can use money to eat as much food as you want, travel around the world, and see Madonna and MJ.

At a concert, go to a strip club and hire all the women to dance on your lap. Call the 10 most beautiful local girls to spend the night with you. As long as you are willing to spend it, money can not only bring you happiness, but also bring you happiness.

So many joys you can’t imagine.”

Byrd also ran out of words.

Suddenly, Laimbeer added: "Money can't buy Larry Bird playing for you."

Who needs Larry Bird?

Louis wanted to say this, he glanced at Bird.

His relationship with Bird is very complicated. They can't be regarded as friends, nor can they be regarded as enemies. Bird hates Louie talking about hillbillies, and Louie never tires of annoying him. They have established a wonderful chemical reaction in a season, and Louie every time

To make Bird angry is at the expense of Bird spreading his anger on his opponents.

Louis is "experienced" and he knows that the opportunity to coach Bird is what many coaches dream of.

Would anyone really turn down the opportunity to continue coaching Bird and choose to become his opponent?

Louis smiled bitterly and said: "Yes, this is a fly in the ointment."

Louis left Bird and Ranbir at home for dinner and he gave them an answer.

If he leaves, it must be for financial reasons.

This answer basically tells them that it is impossible for the Celtics to keep someone if they decide to leave.

Only a place like the Knicks, which has always had a lot of stupid people and a lot of money, would spend 2.2 million to hire a coach.

As long as Laimbeer is away from the court, he is basically a gentleman. After all, he comes from an upper-class family and is not lacking in conversation and etiquette. Bird is more autistic.

After they finished eating and left, Louis was alone in the room he usually used to plan games, when an unexpected person called him.

"Who's calling?"

"I didn't ask, but it's a bit strange."

Louis answered the phone, "Hello, who is this?"

"it's me."

If it was someone he didn't know and called suddenly, Louis would definitely not recognize it. But he had heard this voice too many times in the past few years. He almost instantly realized who the caller was and was surprised: "I

Saiya, I didn’t expect you to call me. This seems to be the first time you have called me, right?”

Thomas, however, was not even in the mood to chat with Louis and asked straight to the point: "Are you leaving?"

Since he asked directly, why not simply answer.

"Yes, will you bless me?"

"Why?"

"Huh?" Louis seemed not to hear him clearly, "What?"

"Why are you leaving?"

It is possible for anyone to call to try to keep Louis. Louis never thought that Isiah Thomas, the person he scolded from the preseason training camp until the end of the third game of the Finals, would actually call to try to keep him.

He. Generally speaking, when Thomas heard that he was leaving, he didn't celebrate by sliding down the rails at home, so he was well-educated, right?

"Why should I leave? This is a good question. I don't know how to answer you at the moment." Louis thought for a moment and decided to maintain his established position of "I value money more than honor" in front of the players.

Suppose, "I have been in Boston for six years and have achieved many achievements. Now I want to pursue higher income. Is this difficult to understand?"

As soon as Louis finished speaking, he heard Thomas gasping on the other end of the phone.

"After all you've done,"

"After all your high-sounding words,"

"After you convinced me to be Larry's shadow, you fucking tell me you're going to give it up to make more money? Are you fucking kidding me!"

Louis was silent for a few seconds. He once thought that people like Isiah Thomas would never be able to understand the fate of a doomed man like Scottie Pippen, Dwyane Wade, Havlicek and others.

In a team that achieves greatness, selfless sacrifice is more important than dedication. Now this guy calls and says he has decided to be Bird's shadow?

Did I see him wrong? Louis thought to himself.

"Since you insist on pursuing the answer, I will tell you the answer."

Louis once thought that Isiah Thomas was the only problem he couldn't solve in the Celtics. After he left, this person would become a time bomb. When he was about to leave, he found that this problem could be solved. He wanted to solve it

Or leave the problem to K.C? The Celtics in the finals are a perfect team, but as long as Thomas does not exorcise his inner demons and concentrate on fighting for honor, in most cases, they will

None are perfect.

Even with the hidden danger of Thomas, Louis feels that no other team can beat this Celtics team. Their strongest point happens to restrain the Lakers' strongest point. If the only Lakers who can challenge them are restrained, other teams will be defeated.

What can the team do?

"Because I feel that you can't succeed without me."

"What did you say?"

Louis smiled and said: "Have I not made it clear enough? You can't succeed without me. Because Larry is an arrogant country bumpkin. He will not be considerate of you, but he will not take care of your emotions and feelings. Even if you are here with me,

You may talk beautifully, but over time, your damn vanity will make you do some ugly things. As long as I am around, these problems will of course be covered up, but as long as I am not there, you hypocritical

Assholes will show their fox tail, don't fucking pretend in front of me, that's the kind of person you are, if you have any objections, prove it to me, use your actions, not your words."

"Okay, just wait and see! See who can't live without whom!" After saying that, Thomas hung up the phone angrily.

Let me see, Isiah.

No one can defeat you except me, no one can.

Louis leaned back in his chair and closed his eyes with a smile.